Software founder McAfee denies killing neighbor

Software company founder John McAfee said Wednesday he is in hiding, unarmed and accompanied only by a young woman, changing locations and telephones frequently to stay one step ahead of a Belize police unit he says wants to kill him.

McAfee, the creator of the McAfee antivirus program, has led a life of eccentricity since he sold his stake in the anti-virus software company that is named for him in the early 1990s and moved to Belize about three years ago to lower his taxes.

He told The New York Times in 2009 that he had lost all but $4 million of his $100 million fortune in the U.S. financial crisis. However, a story on the Gizmodo website quoted him as calling that claim "not very accurate at all."

Last April, Belize police and the GSU raided McAfee's home looking for drugs and guns. McAfee said then that officers found guns, which he said were legal, and he was released without charge after being detained for a few hours.

He has said this week that he hid in the sand with a piece of cardboard over his face to help him breathe when police raided his beachside villa Sunday after Faull's body was found.

There were still a couple of dogs at the villa Wednesday, along with a sign on the fence outside the property reading, "Never mind the dogs. Beware of Owner," together with a drawing of a hand holding a smoking pistol.

San Pedro Mayor Daniel Guerrero said Faull had given the town council a letter complaining that McAfee's dogs were running loose, chasing cyclists and attacking people and that McAfee's security guards trespassing on other homeowners' property.

Still, Guerrero said there wasn't enough evidence for him to say McAfee is a suspect.

A shopkeeper whose store is near the two men's houses said several gunshots were heard at McAfee's villa over the weekend. The shopkeeper, who did not want to be quoted by name for fear of retaliation, said the gunshots came around the same time the dogs were poisoned and speculated they may have come from someone putting the animals out of their misery.

McAfee repeated his belief that Faull's killers may have actually been looking to kill him.

"When I heard about it, the first thing I though was, 'Oh my God, they were attempting to get me and they got the wrong white man.' All white men are the same here," he said.

Asked if he would turn himself over to authorities of another country, he said: "Absolutely. If it was not a Belizean authority I would indeed, but only on the condition they not turn me into the Belizean authorities after they have questioned me."

"That's the problem, because in turning myself over to the FBI, then the Belizeans now know where I am," he said. "The FBI has limited authority in another country."

"I am innocent of everything that they're accusing me of, except probably foolishness for staying here in the country, although I still intend to stay," McAfee added. "I'm not going to leave this country. I love this country. This is my home."

Associated Press writer Mark Stevenson reported this story from Mexico City and Jose Osorio reported in San Pedro, Belize.